Commentary: I tried to send mail to Bahrain this week. Here's what happened.
On Monday, March 1st, Israel Post announced the launch of a direct postal route, for the first time in history, between Israel and the Kingdom of Bahrain. The announcement followed January 20th's equally historic launch of a direct postal route between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. Both came on the heels of the Abraham Accords, signed by Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in August 2020. When the Israel-UAE postal route was launched, Israel was under lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. SARS-CoV-2 infection rates were setting new records daily, schools and stores were closed, and leaving the house beyond a radius of one kilometer was permitted only in special cases. Nevertheless, on the same day the Israel-UAE postal route debuted, I was able to reach a post office in walking distance from my neighborhood and send four pieces of mail to a contact in Dubai. Would I be able to replicate that success this time around with mail to Bahrain? The good news w...